The Space Between
by I am not a committee
Summary: One Shot look into Vader's interactions with Leia during the time of the original trilogy and his thoughts on torturing someone who looks a lot like his dead wife.


AN: I'm not cool enough to own any of these characters.

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><p>There were several things that Anakin Skywalker never took for granted. Food, Freedom, and Water. Oh, and ice cubes. Those wondrous things were a miracle unto themselves. (Of course, the first time he'd gotten a freezer headache, he thought they were rather evil.)<p>

So it was with a bit irony that Darth Vader found himself missing those very things.

Vader would have given a lot to be able to take a drink of water. Something about having healed, though permanently itchy and painful, third degree burns made one thirsty all the time. Or maybe it was just those six or so years on that God forsaken desert that always made him want more water. Either way, it didn't matter. He couldn't drink. (He wanted to taste food too, but what's the point if you can't rinse it down... or, you know, digest it?)

But Vader liked to believe that there wasn't a bit of Anakin Skywalker left in him. Anakin's life was much too pleasant to be anything like Vader's current situation. Considering Anakin watched his mother die, force choked his wife, and lost any hope of a future family, this was saying something.

No, Vader's life was much worse. He had no mother to speak of. He had no wife. He had no child. His former Master had tried to destroy him. His current master would surely kill him if someone more promising came along. (Though the likelihood of that happening most likely died with with his unborn child.)

Oh and of course, he hated this damned life support suit.

This suit took away his freedom. He couldn't go anywhere without it. He couldn't see much of anything without it. He couldn't hear well without it. He couldn't breathe without it. His heart wouldn't beat without it. Simply put, he would die without it. Some days that wasn't such a bad sounding idea. Today was one of those days. Though, it didn't really matter how he felt. He had other, more important things to worry about.

Such as a particularly stubborn Alderaani Princess, who wouldn't give him the information he needed. It was going to be a terribly long day. The Emperor had already given the order to destroy Alderaan. After all, that big of a decision had to come directly from the top. No one but the Emperor had that kind of authority. Now, if it all went to according to plan, no one would know that except Tarkin and Vader. The planets would be kept in line by the idea that any high ranking Imperial Official could order the destruction of an entire planet.

This would be a good day for the Empire. Ensuring stability and demonstrating the power of this new weapon.

For Vader the day was not as good. Really now, Vader _never _had good days. At least today he had a plan: torture the Princess, blow up her planet, somehow deal with being that close to that much death. Being as Force sensitive as he is, he knows he'll need something to hold onto, lest he collapse under that kind of... disturbance. It was a good and solid plan. Something to work towards. There was a goal to keep in mind. But he could not think too far ahead; he might overlook something that way. _Be mindful of the future, but not at the expense of the moment._ _Be mindful of the living Force.* _

No! He wasn't going to think about lessons that were no longer of use to him. They were taught to someone else. He just had the unfortunate luck to share memories with... Anakin. He would focus on the present. Worry about whatever else it was that was bothering him later. (He tried to ignore the fact that he was, in a twisted way, listening to that lesson.)

Torturing the Princess is not going to be easy. She is so very headstrong for someone so young. He had seen her during various Senate sessions, before it was dissolved. She was one of the few Senators who would look the Emperor in the eye and truly, honestly, not feel fear. That fact unnerved Vader more than it did the Emperor. Everyone feared the Emperor. Vader feared the Emperor. Leia's father certainly never had the guts to stand up to him while he was a Senator. It was extremely rare for someone to vote against whatever notion the Emperor proposed. Leia's voting record less than average. It seemed she valued showing her dislike of Palpatine. Vader couldn't be sure but he could have sworn he overheard her refer to the Emperor once as "Naboo's former Senator" when speaking to other suspected Rebel sympathizers. He wasn't entirely sure though, as any mention of _that_ planet and he quickly found something else to listen to. But one thing was absolutely certain, Princess Leia was brave.

Torturing her presented other problems. Darth Vader was convinced she could withstand the Mind Probe. Frankly, there was a defiance in her that very much resembled Anakin's. Her views of right and wrong seemed black and white. She was very strong minded as well. But her resistance to torture techniques was a minute problem compared to Vader's own, private issues. There is the matter that Princess Leia looks very much like... well, he doesn't think her name much anymore. It hurts too much. But Leia does look like... _her._

Then there was the anger. Not his, not the Princess', but someone else was taking great issue with his torturing of this particular person. He felt it the previous day, the first time he went to... question her. Vader was use to feeling anger directed towards him. In fact, he expected it. He especially expected to feel it from the dead. After all, he killed thousands of people. Some were bound to be angry about it.

But this person, whoever they were, went beyond simple anger. He supposed it felt... personal? Connected to both the Princess and himself. He wasn't sure why. Most of Leia's family was still alive. And while Leia's mother had passed away when she was a child, Vader was never close enough to Bail's wife to feel such anger from her. In fact, Vader wasn't entirely sure he had ever spoken to her alone.

He had to admit, he did feel strange about this particular assignment. It felt... wrong. Almost as though he were attacking part of himself, or someone he knew long ago, but couldn't remember well. As she was neither, he didn't understand the feeling, so he ignored it, or tried to.

Plus, torturing her hadn't been the first plan of action. When he tried to use the Force to find out where the Death Star plans were, she had just stared at him. No human being, save his current Master had ever blocked him so effectively and seemingly without effort. Almost as though she didn't have to think about it, or didn't realize she was doing it.

It didn't matter though. Today, Vader was going to get much more severe with his _persuasion_ methods.

As he walked down the corridors to the Detention Block, he could have sworn he heard his long dead wife whisper in his ear, "Please don't do this. Not again."

But that was impossible. Padmé wouldn't be able to talk to him without the help of someone who was dead and Force sensitive. No one would have been willing to help her talk to him. It would give him too much of a sense of peace, even if she was mad at him. Not to mention, the number of rules he was sure that would break. The only person he could possibly think of that would be that close to his wife, was Obi-Wan. There was a greater likelihood that Vader would be eating the midday meal with the troops than Obi-Wan helping him hear his wife. So, he decided to ignore the fake voices he was hearing.

Several hours later, when he left her cell with no more information than he came in with, he thought he heard, "I may never forgive you for that," but shook the feeling off. He vowed to himself to forget about it entirely. Vader was, indeed, very good about having a selective memory.

He never managed to fully do that, though.

Several years later, on Cloud City, one of the officers suggested bringing Princess Leia in for interrogation instead of Captain Solo. The officer said the Princess was probably better informed. Higher rank and all that. Vader refused. Instead of trying to get more information about the Rebellion while they waited for Anakin Skywalker's prodigal son to show up, they tortured Han Solo for no better reason than they could.

But at least this time, Vader himself wasn't tortured by having to listen to his long dead (and by now very much angry and disappointed) wife talk to him.

It would be another few years before Anakin Skywalker, now deceased, would learn that Qui-Gon Ginn, Jedi rule breaker extraordinaire, helped a very angry, though ultimately forgiving, Padmé Skywalker talk to her wayward husband about inflicting that kind of pain on their daughter.

Understandably, it took a long time for Leia to forgive her father. But afterwards, many more years down the road, Anakin and Leia would marvel at the fact that, though the messages were meant for her father, she heard them too without the help of any Jedi. Luke supposed it was because his father and his sister shared many of the same traits and were very much alike. But valuing his own existence, he never spoke a word of this to either one.

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><p>AN: That stuff about keeping your mind on the present and all that jazz, it's not a direct quote (but it's close enough) to a conversation Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon have in TPM.<p> 


End file.
